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[quote=”Imxploring”]
I half hope Hillary wins… I’m guessing the collapse will happen under her tenure.[/quote]She will !
But don’t underestimate what the herd of lemmings will tolerate …
As it is likely much greater than anything that you could have possibly imagined …
[quote=”guru”]. .
Well, I don’t know how “fringe” they are. There are claims of 3 million preppers in the US. A small part of the populace but enough to be a major industry.[/quote]
Well, I guess it has to do with how you define a prepper … (not unlike your definition of the word is … lol) …
Though I have never been a particularly religious person, I am still intrigued by many of the beliefs of those that are …
When it comes to “prepping”, the Mormans were the first to come to mind …
Their culture of “food storage” even includes things like Vodka … as a means to barter … charcoal, as a means to cook.
They believe that you should have 3 months of food storage right from the get go … and build that out to “years” (while rotating stock) as resources permit …
Their teachings show you how if you just store 3 or 4 items, you can make this, this, this, and this …
And if you store one more item, you can make an array of more things …
https://www.lds.org/topics/food-storage?lang=eng
So … there you have 6.3 million “preppers” all under a single label.
And, as an aside, they are some of the finest people that I have ever met.
[quote=”Imxploring”]…or a box of beer!
[/quote]
OMG! I haven’t thought about “Looter Guy” in years … lol
[image]http://www.2acheck.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/looter-heineken-guy-233×300.jpg[/image]
😆
[quote=”guru”]It should be pretty obvious, all us dangerous citizens many of whom are well armed.
[/quote]
[i][b]Ah ! There’s the rub.[/b][/i]
You see, you can’t be allowed to be armed.
So … how are we going to take care of that ?
Well, first we’ll have to start taking a punitive attitude toward owning/possessing firearms. I know ! Let’s impose some punitively high import duties to increase the cost and limit people’s ability to own firearms!
Now then, let’s start limiting the individual’s right to own/possess firearms. We can’t do this all at once as there would be outrage. We must divide in order to conquer !
So, let’s pick out a small, seemingly insignificant group who may overlook our actions … I know ! Let’s target temporary residents first ! They want something from us … so they’ll probably just shut up and take it.
What next ? Well, we could go after the permanent residents next … or … we could levy oppressive taxes and much stricter controls on ammunition.
Decisions … decisions … decisions …
Ah hell … let’s do both !! Meanwhile, let’s quietly ban further importation of guns.
Well, that pretty much only only leaves the citizens and the criminals. The citizens can’t really justify the high cost of ammunition now … so they’d likely be pretty receptive to a voluntary “Guns for Gift Cards” program. The criminals just see the higher prices as a “cost of doing business.”
Anyone found with a gun now is obviously a criminal … and who cares about criminals ? Lock them all up ! Confiscate all of their belongings ! After all, that’s what criminals deserve !
So, there you have it. Free men to helpless lemmings in 4 easy steps …
Step #1 – Check !
Step #2 – Check !
Step #3 – ??
Step #4 – ??I also enjoyed Scott’s article and find myself pretty much in agreement on virtually every point EXCEPT that Costa Rica is the ideal place to build an Ark against the coming oppression as they will likely complete the above transformation faster than the United States. What I don’t know … and I wish very much that I dd know … is where, exactly, that ideal place exists.
Yes …
You can buy a SIM card and keep the number.
You can reload it from online banking @ BN.
But, you may not need to.
Cellular companies are changing their “world” platforms very quickly now.
For instance, two years ago Sprint would charge US users ~$2.30/min to use their phones in CR. Now, you can sign up for their “One World” program (no cost) and talk, text, and 1 GB data/month is free in CR. You should check all of your available carriers to see if anyone offers a comparable program.
Upon arriving in CR, you simply go to your phone’s settings menu and select the preferred provider from the preferred providers list and ensure that you have enabled both voice and data roaming.
I generally change mine as the plane is taxiing to the ramp.
The old way was to simply buy a dual sim phone and leave one in for your home country and one from CR. I never ran into a situation where I needed to reload one from abroad … though it is possible. With the huge availability of WiFi now and just about every carrier having an app to talk over WiFi, you really don’t need a lot of minutes unless you’re on the road. And that’s without even talking about Skype or any other of dozens of other apps.
There are also a multitude of services that allow you to have virtual numbers in just about any place on Earth for $1/month … and they will port (forward) the call to any number that you set.
If I were you, I would wait until I had a bit more roots in CR than a lot before worrying about things like this …
The excitement may wear off faster than you anticipated …
Take care,
Bill
[quote=”ajhubb12″]So do you guys feel that someone who doesn’t need the imported luxuries could make it fairly well in Costa rica? We are the type that cook at home so going out to eat wouldn’t happen that often and I’m the type that would rather go up to a tree and get my fruit.[/quote]
It really doesn’t matter if you and your girlfriend are going to build a tree house and live like Tarzan & Jane and let Cheetah educate the children …
If you and your girlfriend can’t arrive in Costa Rica with $150K USD each (since you aren’t married) in cash (for the $2500/month that the govt is going to require that you have for 5 years) plus the thousands of dollars each that you each will likely pay a lawyer or facilitator to gain residency (since you aren’t married) … plus whatever else you might spend … like $500/month each (since you aren’t married) for CAJA …
[B]YOU SHOULDN’T EVEN CONSIDER IT !![/B]
What’s wrong with Venezuela ?
It’s good that y’all don’t need much as I understand that they don’t have much.
And, with $35,000 USD in cash .. you could probably buy half of the country right now !
(PS … If you think [B]NOT[/B] being married makes things expensive … try getting married … lol)
[quote=”Imxploring”]As they say in Costa Rica… “Easy to buy hard to sell.”
[/quote]Probably akin to unloading a timeshare in the middle of the Everglades …
[quote=”Imxploring”]
Once you’ve done all those things it can be a wonderful buying and living experience!
[/quote]Agreed ! You really couldn’t ask for a more beautiful country, a nicer climate, and friendlier people …
The govt, on the other hand …
The Corporate Tax … while not clearly pointed at expats, it was certainly part of their thinking.
The Luxury Tax … clearly pointed at expats as they know that Latins have not been indoctrinated into paying taxes and being “slaves to the machine” the way that first world residents have. Ticos will simply pay an appraiser to show that they do not owe it or ignore it altogether. If you can’t manage to keep murderers and rapists in jail, what could you possibly do to a tax evader? Legal action in Costa Rica can easily span lifetimes.
The CAJA Requirement for Residency … clearly a Gringo Tax. Completely outrageous price increases directed at having expats bail out a poor and failing system. Who knew that socialism doesn’t work ?
And worst of all …
Oppressively restricting expats ability to have firearms for protection. You can’t depend on the police in Costa Rica to do anything other than draw a salary. Restricting a certain group’s ability to protect themselves from an ever-growing and ever-more-violent criminal element is saying, clearly and loudly, “You Are Not Welcome Here !!”
How many times does one need to be told this ?
[quote=”Imxploring”]
Not sure what Mel was thinking. I guess making major mistakes isn’t that big an issue when you have mega bucks.
[/quote]Remarkably similar to you or I throwing a penny into a wishing well I would think …
[quote=”Imxploring”]… and I wholeheartedly endorse your plan, in fact I’m a bit jealous![/quote]
Me too !! Sort of makes me want to put on a bikini and go myself … ROFLMAO !
Take care,
Bill
[quote=”ajhubb12″]hello all,
I have a couple of questions. I am thinking about moving my family to Costa Rica in 2018 and wanted to know about the currency. How much are things in colons over there in Costa Rica? Is 19 million colons a lot of money in Costa Rica? How is the cost of living there? are the schools good for children? I am looking into moving to Dominical, is that a pretty goo area? I am also wondering about the massage therapy requirements. Would one need a license to be able to do massage in Costa Rica? I know its a lot of questions but I rather know everything before I get there, so I can be somewhat ahead of myself.[/quote]
19,000,000 CRC … Lol …I’ve spent more than that in the last few months building a water tank …
If you’re looking for a “cheap” place to live then you are about 20 years late to this game …
A lot of what is licensed and regulated in the States is NOT in Costa Rica …
From the day that you first set foot in the country, you are at least 4 years away from being able to work “legally” in Costa Rica as an employee. So, you need to have some serious provisions to weather that storm. If you choose to work illegally, you are subject to immediate deportation if caught.
You can own your own business and receive income as a “rentista” (temporary resident) but businesses take time to build.
There are good English-speaking schools and they are generally quite expensive. What constitutes a good area? That is going to be something very personal. If it’s not locked up like Fort Knox, then you obviously don’t want to keep it and it will be treated as such. People will tell you that there are fences everywhere and bars on every window because it is a “cultural thing.” OK then … the culture is wanting to keep your stuff … lol.
If you want to live like a Tico in Costa Rica, you can do so for likely less than it cost you in more densely populated areas of the US.
If you want to live like an American, buying imported products, etc., I expect that it will cost you 25%-33% more than it does in the US. Your cost of electricity can easily be four times what you are paying in the States per kWh.
I don’t know that I’d be looking to build right now. On some of the real estate sites that I keep an eye on, turnover appears to be just a couple of percent of inventory per year. That equates to decades of inventory !
So many very real expenses that you have in building, like gates, landscaping, etc. seem to have a value of nearly zero when it comes to resale.
Making a living in massage therapy is probably going to require that you are in a very touristy area or one heavily populated by expats. What seems like “paradise” a couple of weeks a year, can turn out to be something very different once it’s “home.”
Things that you may take for granted now, like a Sunday afternoon trip to movies, may become just a distant memory real quick.
You should carefully assess those things that your family enjoys and whether or not those things will be available (and at what cost) in Costa Rica.
As time progresses, Costa Rica becomes less expat friendly and looks more and more to expats to fund their dismal fiscal policy.
About eight years ago, Costa Rica always ranked in the top three of “Best Places to Retire Abroad.” Today, it doesn’t even make the list.
Be careful of “confirmation bias” and do your homework very, [B]VERY[/B] carefully! Treat it like an Amazon purchase and read all of the bad reviews first as there is an even chance that you will want to return to the States within a year.
You will also likely find yourself paying several hundred dollars per month into the govt-run healthcare system in order to get your residency. That’s temporary residency which you must have for at least 3 years before you can get permanent residency allowing you to work. But it will most likely be closer to 5 years.
I remember when I first visited St Bart’s, in the early 80’s, thinking that the costs were quite reasonable. Today, they call it Millionaire’s Island and you pretty much need to be one to visit there.
What was Hog Cay (because that is where all the pigs were raised) the first time that I visited New Providence in the Bahamas, became Paradise Island. Things change … trends should not be ignored.
Take care,
Bill
Looks like a diamond shaped balloon to me.
Nothing to indicate powered aircraft.
It would me interesting to know the orientation of what looks like a drogue chute vs the prevailing winds at the time.
[QUOTE]President signs law to cap rent hikes
By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Casa Presidencial says that the new law that ties rent increases to the rate of inflation will not go into effect until the first of the year.
The summary of the new law came as President Luis Guillermo Solís signed the measure in a ceremony.
The law will prohibit owners from raising rents over the course of a rental agreement more than the inflation rate as long as the rate is less than 10 percent.
[B] The current law provides for a 15 percent ceiling per year because when it was passed the expectation was that the colon would continue to inflate. But the currency has been stable because the Banco Central is protecting the colon. [/B]
Rental agreements in foreign currencies already are frozen at the initial rate over the length of the agreement, which usually is three years.
The measures does not apply to vacation rental.
There is a possibility that landlord organizations will challenge the new law in the courts. And some have already said that the owner will set the initial rent high enough to compensate for the inability to get substantial annual increases.
When the inflation rate is higher than 10 percent, the government in the form of the Ministerio de Vivienda y Asentamientos Humanos would be empowered to set the cap.[/QUOTE]
That is the first time that I’ve seen that admitted.
Just a few months ago they claimed that they were supporting the USD …
[QUOTE]Get ready for huge Obamacare premium hikes in 2017
Amid rising drug and health care costs and roiling market dynamics, the spokesperson for the nation’s health insurers is predicting substantial increases next year in Obamacare premiums and related costs.
Without venturing a specific percentage increase, Marilyn Tavenner, the president and CEO of America’s Health Insurance Plans (AHIP), said in an interview with Morning Consult that the culmination of market shifts and rising health care costs will force stark increases in health insurance rates in the coming year.
“I’ve been asked, what are the premiums going to look like?” she said. “I don’t know because it also varies by state, market, even within markets. But I think the overall trend is going to be higher than we saw previous years. That’s my big prediction.”
If Tavenner is right, Obamacare will jump dramatically—last year’s premium for the popular silver-level plan surged 11 percent on average. Although Tavenner didn’t mention deductibles, in 2016, some states saw jumps of 76 percent, while the average for a 27-year-old male on a silver plan was 8 percent.
The warning to consumers from Tavenner, the former administration official who headed the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and oversaw the disastrous launch of HealthCare.gov, the Obamacare website, comes at a time of growing uncertainty about the evolving makeup of the Obamacare health insurance market. With many insurers struggling to find profitability in the program, the collapse of nearly half of the 23 Obamacare insurance co-ops and this week’s announcement that giant UnitedHealth Group intends to pull out of most Obamacare markets across the country, anticipating future premiums and copayments is largely risky guesswork.
Premiums for the current 2016 season rose on average by 8 percent over the previous year, [B]with 12.7 million Americans enrolling for coverage and government subsidies[/B], according to CMS. Federal officials stress that the average rate doesn’t tell the whole story, and that in many cases after consumers shop around for the best price and government subsidies are applied, the actual premium increase is lower.
The Department of Health and Human Services did a study looking at what consumers were estimated to pay based on initial filings compared to what they actually paid. The study found that last year, the average cost of Obamacare marketplace coverage for people receiving tax credits went from $102 a month to $106 per month, a 4 percent change — despite warning from some of double-digit hikes.
Tavenner’s prediction may well be an opening gambit in the negotiations between the industry and insurance regulators about the 2017 premiums. As Morning Consult noted, many insurers have begun submitting opening bids on raising their premium rates and copayments, which will then be reviewed by the government and finalized this fall.
With a major presidential and congressional election looming this fall, the administration is doing all that it can to tamp down fears of major hikes next year in Obamacare insurance premiums and related out-of-pocket costs. Benjamin Wakana, a Department of Health and Human Services spokesperson, said on Thursday that changes in health care insurance rates are “not a reliable indicator” of what typical consumers on average will pay. “Marketplace consumers would do well to put little stock in those initial numbers,” he said in an email.
But Tavenner outlined several factors that she could put considerable pressure on premium prices next year. Those include:
— A general rise in the nation’s health care tab. Overall, U.S. health care spending grew by 5.3 percent in 2014 – [B]reaching an historic level of $3 trillion[/B], after years of relative cost stability. Medical costs rise from year to year and will certainly affect the next round of premium hikes.
— Soaring prescription drug prices. Insurers as well as government health care programs have been struggling to keep pace with rising drug prices, especially newer specialty drugs to treat [B]the Hepatitis-C virus[/B] and cancer. Pfizer Inc., Amgen Inc., Allergan PLC and other companies have raised U.S. prices for scores of branded drugs since late December, with many of the increases between 9 percent and 10 percent, according to the Wall Street Journal .
The combination of market forces and limitations imposed by the Affordable Care Act will put enormous pressure on insurers to up their premiums. Under the law, there is a cap on insurers’ profits, [B]companies are obliged to insure anyone regardless of their general health or pre-existing conditions, and the insurance plans must be structured in a certain way that often lead to losses.[/B]
— [B]Finally, two of three federal “risk mitigation” programs created under Obamacare are due to expire in 2017.[/B] Those programs were set up to protect insurers from huge, unexpected losses from providing health insurance on the Obamacare exchanges. UnitedHealth and other major insurers have found it difficult to accurately anticipate their costs in providing coverage to sicker or older Americans, and set premiums that were inadequate to cover their risks. Without those programs to fall back on, many companies likely will seek to jack up their premiums.
“It’s kind of a myriad of factors,” Tavenner said in predicting rising premium costs. “It’s not one factor.”
Clare Krusing, director of communications for AHIP, said in an interview on Thursday that health insurance companies “are working through” these factors right now in setting rates for the coming year and deciding whether to participate.
“Plans are just beginning to file their rates, and it’s a long process with state and federal regulators, until those are approved,” she added. “Certainly plans are going to evaluate market conditions and regulatory approvals, and that will all impact their participation overall” in Obamacare.[/QUOTE]
A few interesting elements in this article …
(1) $3 trillion is nearly as much the IRS takes in from all sources …
(2) The course of injections that essentially cures Hep C costs around $84,000.
(3) Imagine trying to run a company where the govt tells you that you have to take a job even if you know that it is going to result in [B]HUGE[/B] losses.
(4) Once the risk bands expire, the rest of the cooperatives will surely fall.
2017 will likely end with only 3 major insurers …
US Healthcare – who has already served notice of it’s Obamacare exit.
Anthem(BCBS)/Cigna – which has generally been the most expensive option in any market.
Kaiser Permanente – which pretty much founded the preventive/managed care model in the US … even incentivizing doctors to limit care so that they could split a percentage of the actuarial cost estimates that were not spent on the patients.
In a short time, the US will have it’s own [B]Liverpool Care Pathway.[/B]
If you wouldn’t find it too intrusive, would you mind posting the approximate cost and coverage when the bill comes ?
Here is a piece of news that bears on our conversation …
[QUOTE]
The country’s largest healthcare company is getting out of the Obamacare business.United Healthcare, which currently covers the most Americans in the US (pending the proposed Anthem-Cigna merger), said in its quarterly earnings release on Tuesday that it is removing its offerings from almost all Affordable Care Act exchanges by 2017.
“The smaller overall market size and shorter-term higher risk profile within this market segment continue to suggest we cannot broadly serve it on an effective and sustained basis,” said CEO Stephen Hemsley in the company’s quarterly earnings conference call.
“Next year we will remain in only a handful of states, and we will not carry financial exposure from exchanges into 2017. We continue to remain an advocate for more stable and sustainable approaches to serving this market and those who rely on it for their care.”
The company had previously said that it was reviewing offering plans through the ACA exchanges, but this is confirmation that the company will remove nearly all of its products come 2017 to remove any financial impact.
The exchanges are state-by-state marketplaces that allow Americans to compare and sign up for now-mandated health-insurance coverage.
Hemsley said that the cost of offering coverage was too high, as those who gained insurance through the exchange were less healthy and thus the company paid out more claims.
“So as we look at it, the early indications on the health status of the members appears to be a little bit worse,” said UnitedHealthcare CFO Daniel Schumacher.
In total, the company expects to lose $650 million on people covered through the exchanges in 2016 after losing $475 million in 2015, according to Schumacher.
The company has also noted that younger people, who are healthier and on net pay into the system to help cover older, less healthy members are not signing up through the exchanges. This is hurting revenue and making it less attractive to the healthcare companies.
According to Hemsley, the company covers 795,000 people through the exchanges as of the end of the March 2016 and at the end if the year he expects to cover 650,000.[/QUOTE]
Take care,
Bill
Cheryl,
I was way off on my insurance costs. As I sit here tonight (practically the last minute) trying to key enough info into tax software to kick out an extension (so that I can procrastinate a bit longer), I find that the cost of my health insurance is now reported on my W2. It averaged $937.15 for each of the 12 months of 2015. So, out of curiosity, I popped over to healthcare.gov to get a competitive quote. Not one of those fancy plans, mind you, just a bare bones Bronze Plan like I have now. It turned out to be $1,058/ month.
Did I mention that it paid for practically [B]NOTHING[/B]?
Take care,
Bill
[quote=”CHERYLJK”]
As far as Obamacare, I don’t think it’s a bad thing, although it needs some readjusting. I forget what it would cost the 2 of us when I looked into it. I believe around $350/month for a bronze plan.
[/quote]My wife and I (both ~55) have the equivalent to a Bronze Plan through a private group. It’s a small bit less than what I see on the exchanges and costs around $550/month and pays for practically nothing until you’ve paid a $6,600 deductible ($13,200 family). We had far better coverage, for less, pre-Obamacare.
I haven’t checked the numbers lately so forgive me if my info is a bit dated but the last time that I looked, there were roughly 13 million Obamacare enrollees with about 9 million of those on Medicaid. The reimbursement rate for Medicaid is so low that most doctors will not take any ( if not “any more”) Medicaid patients. So, now they’re insured but can’t see a doctor except for the emergency room. About half of the cooperatives formed to provide health insurance under Obamacare have gone broke. In my state of 100 counties, there are 23 that don’t have a single exchange insurer option. Most of the others only have one … Blue Cross. They weren’t profitable and insurance companies are in business to make money .. like any other business, I suppose. The number of major health insurers nationwide has fallen from 5 to 3 through mergers attempting to gain economies of scale to offset huge loss runs from Obamacare. Late last year, one northeastern state talked about a bill that would compel doctors to take and treat Medicaid patients. The governor received an electronic letter signed by nearly every doctor in the state promising to leave the state or stop practicing if it passed.
Many things sound good in theory … communism for instance …
We’re all going to work hard for the common good … eat dinner together every evening … and then sit cross-legged around the camp fire holding hands and singing Kum-Ba-Ya …
Only one problem … it just doesn’t work.
And as Maggie Thatcher once said of socialism … “The only problem with socialism is that eventually you run out of other peoples’ money.”
This plays into the post about The Persecuted 1% …
They’ve had enough ! They are ready to move, or just sit down, to watch the welfare state collapse around them. About 1 in every 2 Americans receives some type of govt payment … whether that be SS, SNAP, WIC, Medicare, Medicaid, EIC, or any other of a plethora or govt programs.
Now how’s that going to work?
A few numbers to mull over …
Out of a country of about 317 million people … the IRS receives only about 137 million returns with an Adjusted Gross Income of $1 or more …
Of those …
The highest earning 1% pay about 40% of the total collected …
The top 5% pay about 60% of the total collected …
The bottom 50% pay about 3% of the total …
So, let’s put all of that into perspective …
5% of 137 million carry 60% of the total load …
That’s less than 7 million people …
That’s less than the number of people that a recent poll stated that they would permanently leave the US in the next 5 years …
Thanks Cheryl,
I didn’t know that. But it does make perfect sense. Once something becomes a regulatory requirement, where is the incentive for CAJA to discount it to anyone? That said, I expect that all discounts will be going away soon and rates will only go up and up. Lol … it’s sort of like watching Obamacare … without the “choice” …
Take care,
Bill
